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The Traditional Martinist
Order and Sacred Scriptures
Hugh McCague, Ph.D., SI
Visions of Ezekiel 1. Unknown artist, 1670, after an engraving
by Matthus Merian, Icones Biblicae, 1630.(Public Domain). (Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ezekiel%27s_vision.jpg)
The mystical meanings of certaintracts of the worlds sacred
scripturesare discussed in the teachings of the
raditional Martinist Order. he student isencouraged to continue
these explorationsof sacred texts. One of the distinctivefeatures
of the mystical approach to sacredscriptures is that the written
text acts as anassisting medium, or catalyst, leading to an
inner comprehension and divine afflatus.As part of this process,
it is important tohave time to reflect and sift over passages.
A half hour on one verse or several versescan be helpful and
greatly enriching. Apassage can be contemplated before enteringinto
the enlightening state of meditation.
Also, a passage can be considered aftermeditation when one is in
an ennobledstate of mind. For quality of reading, thekind demanded
for the mystical unfoldingof sacred scriptures, the emphasis must
be
on a respectful and patient process, to allowour deeper nature,
the Inner Self, to speakto the outer mind or self. he latter form
of
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learning, gradual as it is, is the most direct inthe long run
for spiritual seekers, known inMartinsim as Men and Women of
Desire.
Multiple Senses of Interpretation
Tere were, traditionally, three to fourlevels or senses of
Biblical interpretation or
exegesis, depending on the classificationsystem applied. A
common classificationof four levels was the literal (or
histori-cal), the allegorical, the moral (or tropo-logical), and
the mystical (or anagogical).Te allegorical, moral, and mystical
levels
were sometimes referred to together as thespiritual.1 In some
classifications, there
were, what can be referred to as, a cosmo-logical and scientific
level. Tis level shows
the unity of science and spirituality thatMartinism and
Rosicrucianism activelyadvance.
An example of the four senses is foundin the interpretation of
Jerusalem in theBible. Literally, Jerusalem was the geo-graphic
city, and historically, it conjuredup a wealth of events of past
memory andaccount that had taken place and culmi-
nated in this holy city of David, Solomon,and the mission of the
Master Jesus. Al-legorically, it signified the Church, or
thecollective body of spiritual aspirants andinitiates. Morally, it
represented the virtu-ous and faithful soul.2Scientifically
andcosmologically, it is the Heavenly Jerusa-lem as a model of the
cosmos or a cosmo-gram with the twelve zodiacal gates in thefour
directions.3On the mystical level, it
was the Heavenly City4, the abode of thespiritual elect and the
experience of Cos-mic Consciousness. Tese successive levelsleading
to the mystical sense require in-creasing maturity and
responsibility to beaware of and to penetrate.
Origen, the Bible, andInner Meanings
Notably, the founding Master of Mar-tinism, Louis-Claude de
Saint Martin,found the Biblical commentaries of the
Christian mystic Origen of particular as-sistance. Te scope of
our undertaking, thecontemplation of sacred texts, is alluded toin
the following remark by Origen:
If one wished to obtain means fora profounder contemplation of
theentrance of souls into divine things,
..., let him peruse, at the end of Eze-kiels prophecies, the
visions beheldby the prophet, in which gates of dif-ferent kinds
are enumerated, whichobscurely refer to the different modesin which
divine souls enter into a bet-ter world [Ezekiel 48]; and let him
pe-ruse also, from the Apocalypse of John,
what is related of the city of God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and of its founda-tions and gates
[Revelation 21]. Andif he is capable of finding out also theroad,
which is indicated by symbols,of those who will march on to
divinethings, let him read the book of Mosesentitled Numbers, and
let him seek thehelp of one who is capable of initiat-ing him into
the meaning of the nar-ratives concerning the encampments
of the children of Israel; viz. of whatsort those were which
were arrangedtowards the east, as was the case withfirst; and what
those towards the south-
west and south; and what towards thesea; and what the last were,
which werestationed towards the north. For he willsee that there is
in the respective placesa meaning not to be lightly treated,
...:
but he will distinguish in the encamp-ments certain things
relating to num-bers that are enumerated, and whichare specially
adapted to each tribe, of
which the present does not appear to usto be the proper time to
speak.5
Strikingly, in this passage, Origen re-fers to the process of
initiation and the in-struction of the initiator though
Ezekielsvisions and various sacred architecture orstructures in the
Bible. Note too that themaster mystic Origen observed that he
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could not reveal more in the public con-text of his text.
However, Martinism al-lows the seeker to proceed along such
edi-fying lines.
Sacred Diagrams for
Our Spiritual DevelopmentFor the spiritual aspirant working
in
service for the welfare of others, known inMartinism as the
Agent of Omneity, theBible has many fascinating and intrigu-ing
description of sacred structures suchas Noahs Ark, the abernacle of
Moses,the Encampment in the Wilderness, theemple of Solomon,
Ezekiels vision of the
Wheels, and the Heavenly Jerusalem.Some of these, such as Noahs
Ark and
Ezekiels vision of the Wheels, intriguemany from the days of
their childhood.
As we mature, our early Inner attractionto these structures and
allegories can comeinto full fruition in realization and
illumi-nation. Each of these structures is a sacreddiagram for
interior contemplation and
instruction6
, a mandala-like psychocosmo-gram for initiation, and an
instrument foreffecting the maturation of the seeker and
Te Encampment in the Wilderness, drawing in the Biblia Sacra
Polyglotta(London,1657).
the evolvement of humanity, the Reinte-gration of All Beings, a
central theme ofMartinsim.
ENDNOTES
1. Harry Caplan, Te Four Senses of Scriptural Interpre-
tation and the Medieval Teory of Preaching, Specu-lum IV (1929),
283.
2. Caplan, Four Senses, 282. Beryl Smalley, Stephen
Langton and the Four Senses of Scripture, Speculum
VI (1931), 60.
3. Adrian Snodgrass, Architecture, ime and Eternity:
Studies in the Stellar and emporal Symbolism of radi-
tional Building, (New Delhi: Aditya Prakashan, 1990),
I, 298ff.
4. Caplan, Four Senses, 282. Smalley, Stephen Lang-
ton, 60.
5. Origen, Origen Contra Celsum (Origen Against Celsum),II-VIII
in Te Writings of Origen, II, trans. Frederick
Crombie. Ante-Nicene Library, XXIII. Edinburgh: .
and . Clark, 1872. VI.XXIII.
6. Aryeh Kaplan, Meditation and the Bible (York Beach,
Maine: Samuel Weiser, 1978), 35-56 is helpful on the
mysticism of Ezekiels Vision of the Wheels (Ezekiel
1:1-2:2). Grover A. Zinn, Jr., Mandala Symbolism
and Use in the Mysticism of Hugh of St. Victor, His-
tory of Religions 12 (1972): 317-341 is quite insight-
ful on the mystical meaning of Noahs Ark (Genesis
6-9). Hugh McCague, Te Mystical Interpretation of
Sacred Scriptures, Rosicrucian Podcast, July 1,
2007,http://rosicrucian.org/podcast/2007_07_01_rosicru-
cianorder_archive.html.
http://rosicrucian.org/podcast/2007_07_01_rosicrucianorder_archive.htmlhttp://rosicrucian.org/podcast/2007_07_01_rosicrucianorder_archive.htmlhttp://rosicrucian.org/podcast/2007_07_01_rosicrucianorder_archive.html
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Te Heavenly Jerusalem (Revelation 21) by Beatus of Facundus,
illuminated manuscript, c.1047. (PublicDomain). (Source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:B_Facundus_253v.jpg,
http://publicdomainre-
view.org/2012/04/09/the-beatus-of-facundus/)
http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-beatus-of-facundus/http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-beatus-of-facundus/http://publicdomainreview.org/collections/the-beatus-of-facundus/
